5 Reasons Why 500 Startups is Backing Wanderable

PUBLISHED October 22, 2014

by Jess Erickson

“Syndicate funding is a new, innovative way for startups with traction to gain funding. Just as Wanderable is a first mover in bringing a curated merchant network to the honeymoon registry space, we see our partnership with 500 Startups as a great opportunity to bring more investors to innovative, women-led companies.” –Jenny Chen, Co-Founder, Wanderable

Call to action: We only have 3 days left, so we’re calling on everyone to help back Wanderable – our first company selected for the 500 Women Syndicate fund.

Wanderable modernizes the honeymoon planning process by allowing couples to easily discover and fund their dream honeymoon trip online, and through an awesome mobile app. To date, they have 21,000 couples creating registries and 800 merchants in the marketplace. They’re currently focused on building strategic partnerships and creating exclusive activities, like private yacht cruises with a personal chef, and private viewings of the Crown Jewels in London.

Why 500 Startups Chose Wanderable to Launch this Syndicate:

The Team

Wanderable was founded by two female techies who met at Stanford, saw a hole in the market, and decided they would be the best people to fill it. Wanderable has since loaded their team with analytical and design-oriented individuals to round out their stellar team of 10 in the Bay Area.

They decided to disrupt a traditional market

Weddings and registries might as well come with a set of rules, but Wanderable decided to toss those out the window, allowing like-minded couples to register for experiences over things. Wanderable’s smart design, technology and seamless experience is disrupting the registry market.

First movers in building a platform for curated travel

Anyone can look up destinations or scour review boards for the best experiences at home and abroad, but Wanderable takes the guessing out of this process and diligently curates each experience listed on their site. They even offer “Wanderable exclusive” itineraries that others would be hard-pressed to copy.

They are capitalizing on the millennial generation

Wanderable capitalizes on the millennial demographic by engaging and empowering them. They understand that this generation is driving a consumer shift: they would rather spend money on experiences over material goods. What’s especially impressive is just 2 years into a 20-year surge of the millennial generation getting married, Wanderable brings this desired technology and inspiration to this unmet market need.

They have a vision

What we love most about Wanderable is that they have a great vision of where their company is going. This is the new frontier: Curated travel is becoming the norm, and Wanderable is determined to solidify their role in this space.

Takeaway

We already have 33 backers who have demonstrated their support for women-led companies. “I was impressed with the team, metrics and disruption in this space. When I heard about the 500 Women Syndicate, I thought it was a great way to support female entrepreneurs in tech. We need a better mix of women and men in this industry to create a better culture.” – Alan Braverman (Early Backer of 500 Women Syndicate, Serial Entrepreneur (Yammer/Eventbrite/Geni).

In the spirit of promoting change, join us and let’s make this happen – your support will serve to inspire and ignite new, wonderful ideas, and surely you’d like to see more of them, wouldn’t you?

Official Hashtag: #WanderOn

Published by Jess Erickson

Jess loves technology, equality and people, which is why she’s 500’s Director of Diversity. She is also the founder of the global women in tech organization Geekettes. A professional surfer of the web, she’s finally ready to settle back at home after seven years abroad and become an amateur surfer of the West Coast waves.